answers to riddles with answers like "a fish" and "a ring" and "meat" so she can call in to win radio contests

whether I've heard of a particular movie because she has passes to a free screening

what movie to go see and what the kids might like

free movie screenings in my area

coupons on the Internet for free stuff

answers to movie trivia so she can call in to win radio contests

writing clues for scavenger hunts because I am apparently the only clever person she knows

reminding me to call relatives for their birthdays/anniversaries so I look good

editing/rewriting articles for the newsletter because I am apparently the only person in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who can write

telling me how impressed everyone was with an article I wrote because I am apparently the only person in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who can write

thanking me for the latest season of Veronica Mars that has arrived at her door

writing a short speech for her because I am apparently the only person in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who can write

just to hear my voice

As much as I bitch about her, as much as she annoys me and pisses me off and makes me cry, as much as I never want to answer the phone when she calls because she's basically the only person who ever calls me, as much as I sometimes feel like she's deliberately trying to make me unhappy, I really do love my mom, and I'm glad I have her around.Current Mood:okayCurrent Music: Mudvayne - Not Falling

This made me smile.My mom e-mails me about things, and then calls me a little while later to ask if I got the e-mail and repeat what's in it. It's completely maddening and sort of endearing at the same time.

My Mom also drives me batty. I actually even hung up on her once after she got mad at me and hung up on me first. I'm glad that you still appreciate your Mom now, rather than later. Loving her is different than being thankful for her, so it's great that you can not only love her, but appreciate that she loves you, even if it seems like she may not understand you at all or doesn't care what you 'think' makes you happy.

She probably thinks that if she doesn't call you for random stuff, you wouldn't talk to each other at all, because its hard for you guys to communicate about important things. My Mom and I tend to have really short conversations because I prefer not to be lectured, so sometimes its hard for me to remember often enough to appreciate her.

I almost never call people because I'm on the phone a lot for work. It seems like phone calls, like snail mail are becoming obsolete ways of communicating, which is kind of sad as they show that you took a little more time out of your day to keep in touch.

Sometime during my junior year in college, my dad moved from California to Toronto because he got a new job there, with the understanding that my mom would move out there when my brother finished his junior year in high school, and he would finish high school but live somewhere else. However, my mom found she couldn't leave my brother (the youngest) alone, so she stayed for his senior year. During that time, they became best friends, and have remained so since (well, maybe my brother's wife is closer, but he's still close to my mom). I've always sort of envied that relationship, because my mom and I had a somewhat difficult time when I was growing up. Part of it was my fault - I took her for granted, I pushed her and my dad away somewhat during high school, and I had a horrible temper - but there were other issues floating around as well, having to do with my dad as well. Now that my dad has been dead for six years, we've become closer, and we talk every week, and we've never really gotten into any more fights. Mostly, we talk once a week just to talk, though she'll nag me to do something. It does help we have cultural stuff to talk about - we used to watch a lot of the same shows (TWW, Law & Order, Felicity), we read some of the same books, and while there haven't been many movies she would see recently, I can still recommend some to her. And yes, I still love her, even through all the difficult times we've had.